NEWS ROUNDUP: Serena Williams Backs Out Of Rogers Cup With Injury….AND MORE

Her decision comes right before the start of the Olympic Games, where she will be representing the U.S.

Tennis star Serena Williams has made the decision to withdraw from the Rogers Cup. Serena has decided to sit out due to a shoulder inflammation injury. Her decision comes right before the start of the Olympic Games, where she will be representing the U.S. “Due to inflammation in my shoulder, I unfortunately must withdraw from the Rogers Cup,” said Serena in a statement on Sunday. “I was looking forward to competing in Montreal and I look forward to returning soon.” Tournament director Eugene Lapierre understands her decision to back out. “Because this is an Olympic year, the players have very full schedules. Sometimes your body needs rest. We hope that Serena will recover quickly and wish her much success for the rest of the season,” he said. The Rogers Cup kicked off on Monday in Montreal. Read more.

#ImWithHer: 90 Percent of Sanders’ Supporters Say They Will Back Hillary Clinton

As we near the 2016 presidential election in November, attitudes surrounding the candidates involved in the race have taken a turn. According to a study by Pew Research, almost half of Democratic voters changed their candidate choice over time. Initially, almost three in 10 individuals showed support for Hillary Clinton and 20 percent backed Bernie Sanders. Now that Sanders’ hopes of becoming president have been cut short, 90 percent of his “consistent” supporters say they will support Clinton in the general election. According to a study by Gallup, Democratic political views have shifted by race. Whites who classify themselves as “strong” Democrats have become more liberal over the past two decades. African-Americans who identified as Democrats were more likely to back Clinton during the primaries. Despite the support from many of Sanders’ supporters, there are several Democratic voters who are opposed to Clinton. During the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on Monday, there was a truck parked in the street that bared the words “Hillary for Prison 2016.” Read more.

Trump Sees Post-RNC Convention Poll Bump

Despite the dark tone of Donald Trump‘s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, new data shows he has received an increase in the polls. Surveys released on Monday, which were conducted by CNN/ORC, Morning Consult, and CBS, showed Trump is up in the polls. A poll conducted by CNN in June showed Hillary Clinton was up by seven points and now Trump is up by three. The poll released by Morning Consult showed Trump is leading by four points. CBS’s survey showed the race is tied between the two candidates. “Donald Trump gets a small boost in support across the battleground states coming out of his convention: he is at 42 percent support now, up from 40 percent heading in, and it now pushes him slightly ahead of Hillary Clinton, who remains unchanged at 41 percent. Republicans in the battleground states liked what they saw, much more so than independents, as the continued closeness of the contest and this limited movement — even after a convention — is another example of how staunch partisanship is both defining and constraining this race,” wrote Anthony Salvanto for CBS News. “The vote change — such as it is — comes almost entirely from a handful of those voters who were undecided or unsure last week, and not from a conversion of voters who were previously with Clinton; Clinton’s support remains the same despite so much of the convention’s rhetorical focus on her and the Democrats.”Read more.

Beyoncé’s Team Responds to ‘Lemonade’ Lawsuit

After being hit with a lawsuit for allegedly copying visual concepts for her Lemonade project, songstress Beyoncé and her team are speaking out. In June, Matthew Fulks, the creator of a 2014 film titled Palinoia, claimed that there were many visual similarities between his work and Beyoncé’s project. “The number of aesthetic decisions included in Plaintiff’s PALINOIA Work that are parroted in Defendants’ LEMONADE Trailer demonstrates that the LEMONADE Trailer is substantially similar to the PALINOIA Work,” read Fulks’ complaint. “The misappropriated content includes both the particular elements that the Plaintiff chose to comprise the PALINOIA Work and the coordination and arrangement of those particular elements.” On July 22, her legal team issued a motion claiming that Fulks’ allegations are absurd and the projects don’t share any similarities. “[A] straightforward comparison of the parties’ works provides a textbook example of what does not constitute legally cognizable claim of infringement,” read the document. “‘Palinoia’ is about a ‘tumultuous relationship’ that is now over. The protagonist is a White male and his former lover is a White blonde woman. The demise of their relationship is oblique, and is not tied to infidelity. ‘Lemonade,’ portrays the stages through which its African-American female protagonist goes in connection with an existing relationship, ending in reconciliation. For the foregoing reasons, Defendants respectfully request that their motion to dismiss … be in all respects granted.” In his lawsuit, Fulks is seeking damages. Read more.

Rihanna Nabs Role in A&E’s ‘Bates Motel’

At Comic Con, it was revealed that Rihanna nabbed a role in A&E’s Bates Motel. The television series is centered on the life of Norman Bates and his mother. It is based on the prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s movie Psycho. Rihanna will play the role of Marion Crane, a woman who runs off with a rich man’s fortune and is later killed by Bates. “We wanted to thrust the iconic role into a contemporary spotlight and redefine it in a meaningful and exciting new way,” said the show’s executive producers Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin. “We also heard Rihanna was a fan of the show, and we were huge fans of hers, so it was the perfect collision of creativity and fate.” The upcoming season will be its fifth and final one. Read more.